A Steady Shaking (Deep in the Bones)
by thelinksthatconnectus
Summary: It wasn't supposed to be this way, and yet it is exactly the way it is. That it what Tabitha realizes as he faces hard truths. A bad end AU seeking to explore the question of what would happen if Maxie had been able to expand the land.


"It wasn't supposed to happen like that." Tabitha clenched his fists tighter together. "It wasn't! It wasn't!" Tabitha closed his eyes, forcing away the images on the screen.

Things were supposed to be different. Things were supposed to be in order, the way that they were truly supposed to be, just the way that Maxie had described.

But you haven't seen Maxie in a while, have you? Tabitha thought. Maxie is gone to who knows where. He hasn't contacted you or Courtney ever since he revived Groudon, and what good did any of us even get out of that?

The TV went silent. Tentatively, Tabitha opened his eyes.

All he saw on the TV was his and Matt's reflection.

"I know it wasn't," Courtney said. Tabitha turned to look at her. Most days, she rarely smiled, as if her face was set in a permanent half frown. Now, her frown was even deeper than before. Her usually blank eyes seemed smaller than before, as if the dark bags that had formed around them were trying to shrink her eyes. "But that's just the way it is."

Tabitha's stomach flipped.

Courtney's eyes looked past Tabitha, turning to the man above him. "Let's avoid the news for a while, okay?" Her voice trembled near the end.

That's not Courtney, Tabitha thought. That can't be. Courtney is stoic and strong. This shouldn't bother her - nothing ever does.

"Sure," Matt replied, his voice weaker than usual and laced with a steady wheezing.

She threw the remote. It soared just over Tabitha's head.

After one last look at Tabitha were her sad, small eyes, Courtney turned and headed to the warp pad. Her disheveled Magma uniform was a shock of bright red against the deep blue walls of the Team Aqua Hideout.

Only a moment later, the ground shook. The Team Aqua hideout itself was changing; once he went outside again, Tabitha was sure to see even less water than before.

The water is just going to keep receding, he thought. Will there even be any left around here?

He had once detested Lillycove, with the constant smell of the salty sea in the air and the annoying tourists that crawled to the city. Already, it was changing, becoming more like a desert.

There has to be some water left, right? Tabitha thought. Right?

The ground shook once more, shaking the entire room. A few items fell to the floor, filling the room with the sound of crashes. The flat screen TV shook, though it didn't fall off the wall.

Matt leaned forward suddenly, reaching across the couch and gripping Tabitha tightly.

"What are you doing?" Tabitha said, his voice a little louder than intended, once the ground stopped shaking.

"Bro," Matt replied, his voice shaking as he spoke. He paused for a moment and simply breathed in and out, wheezing slightly. "I had to make sure you were okay. You could have gotten knocked over."

Tabitha bit his lip before he could respond. What good would a snide remark do then?

"We should go," Tabitha said.

For a moment Matt, covered in sweat and struggling to breathe, didn't respond.

It wasn't supposed to be like this, Tabitha thought.

There wasn't supposed to be dozens of earthquakes all over the world. People shouldn't be struggling to get water. Volcanoes shouldn't be erupting. Maxie, Courtney and Tabitha were supposed to be heroes, not wanted criminals.

And, he wondered, if Team Aqua is helping Courtney and me out (and just why he still couldn't figure out), could they get in trouble too?

"Where?" Matt asked.

"Someplace safe," Tabitha replied.

As if a place like that still exists, Tabitha thought. He looked away from Matt and to the floor.

When he stood up, Matt followed. He kept a protective hold on his waist, which only made Tabitha keep his eyes on his feet.

"Archie called me earlier," Matt said. "He said that he and May had some ideas of what to do, ways to get things back to normal." It seemed as if he was going to keep speaking, but he started coughing. "Sorry, bro," Matt said once the fit ended. "It's just been a little harsh on my lungs lately."

Tabitha couldn't reply. A simple sorry couldn't fix this.

"Matt," he finally replied as the two drew closer to the warp pad. "This wasn't supposed to happen. People aren't supposed to be getting hurt. You-"

His voice was cut off by the ground suddenly shaking. Matt held Tabitha tighter. It took Tabitha a moment to notice that his feet were no longer on the ground.

The last thing he saw before Matt threw him over his shoulder and stepped onto the warp pad were the last items in the room, TV and all, falling to the floor.


End file.
